The Other Side of the Coin | Matthew 22 | Gary Hamrick

[Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] all right matthew chapter 22 is where we're going to be i'm going to read the section between verses 15 to 22. this is an encounter when jesus is confronted by some religious and political leaders who are trying simply to trap him to discredit him you'll see that as we go through this story so it's matthew 22 starting at verse 15. and then the pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle him that's jesus in his talk and they sent to him their disciples with the herodians saying teacher we know that you are true and teach the way of god in truth nor do you care about anyone for you do not regard the person of men by the way they're not saying that he doesn't care about people they're saying that you don't show partiality to people verse 17 tell us therefore what do you think is it lawful to pay taxes to caesar or not but jesus perceived their wickedness and he said why do you test me you hypocrites show me the tax money so they brought him a denarius and he said to them whose image and inscription is this they said to him caesars and he said to them render their fortitude the things that are caesar's and to god the things that are god's and when they had heard these words they marveled and left him and went their way let's pause there and pray father it's good to be in your house today and to open up your word and as always we just pray that you speak to us now through scripture that you would move us lord in in in the direction of change that we would want to be conformed more in into the image and likeness of jesus as our lord and savior and so lord use this passage to challenge us and to encourage us and to motivate us lord to be more like our savior we love you we thank you that we can gather here together and those watching online we commit our bible study to you now in jesus name speak to us we pray amen well the subject here is taxes that these religious and political leaders are trying to trap jesus concerning and i think it was benjamin franklin who said in this world nothing is certain except death and taxes will rogers would later add the only difference between death and taxes is that death doesn't get worse every time congress meets and things haven't changed much in 2000 years in jesus day the roman empire was in power and they had imposed taxes on all of their citizens and at this particular time israel and thus the jewish people are part of the province of the roman empire and thus they were subject to taxes like everybody else in the roman empire and so some of the jewish political and religious leaders who did not believe in jesus who were opposed to his ministry who were jealous of his popularity used the topic of taxes it's controversial then it's controversial now as an opportunity to try to stir up some controversy and some division about jesus and to try to dilute his popularity and these leaders were always looking for ways to malign him or to discredit him this isn't the first time we read about this kind of a thing in the bible where the religious and political leaders were always looking for different ways different inroads to try to in some way malign or discredit the ministry and the life of jesus so this was just one example among several here and so this whole scene is a plot they've contrived this they are trying to trap jesus because they figure that depending on how he answers this you know when you try to give an answer about taxes you're going to alienate somebody and so that's their goal and you see right at the beginning of our text here in verse 15 that it tells us that they plotted this verse 15 the pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle him in his talk now i'm reading from new king james version but the niv says then the pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words and so regardless of what version you're reading from the whole idea here is this is a plot this is a trap they're trying to do what they can to stir up controversy and to malign and discredit the ministry of jesus and so they picked this controversial topic of taxes thinking that jesus was inevitably going to alienate somebody in the way that they and the way that he might answer this question so this entire question is a trap have you ever felt like somebody asked you a question as a complete setup that that they were just intentionally trying to trap you with their question now i remember many years ago in fact i think it was the first year that terry and i were married and one of the things that she liked not so much anymore i don't even know if this is on tv anymore but one of the things she liked was to sit down and watch the miss america pageant and so we're sitting down there first year marriage right we're watching the miss america pageant and she turns to me and here's her question she says to me which one of these ladies do you think is beautiful that's a trap how am i supposed to answer that question which one of these ladies do you think is all of them i don't know no but so i said well honey listen if you want an honest answer i'll give you an honest answer but it will only be on the basis of judging appearance because the fact of the matter is some of these ladies are pretty on the inside but they're not as pretty on the outside and other ladies well they're they're pretty on the outside but they're messed up on the inside and so the truth is honey this is why i fell in love with you because you're the perfect package beautiful inside and out right are you kidding me i didn't answer that way you think as i'm a pastor i always have a jesus answer ready to go i said something like that one you know and then last thing i remember then is waking up in the hospital so it was a no it was an ambulance but uh no it wasn't any of those things but i do remember we got into some intense fellowship and i remember my statement was well you asked me it was a trap so here jesus is this whole thing is a set up to try to discredit or malign him it's a trap and the instigators in this story are two groups on opposite sides of the tax issue now again one group is a political group and one group is a religious group the religious group is mentioned in verse 15 the pharisees the pharisees were a strict religious group they were strict strict separatists they were legalists they were anti-roman government in every form they were pro-israel and thus they were opposed to taxes of any sort that's the religious group the pharisees the herodians mentioned in verse 16 were a political group and they were people who were loyal to king herod thus the name herodians and king herod was the puppet of the roman empire who was assigned this particular region of the roman empire to give oversight to it so the herodians were loyal to herod their allegiance was to rome and so even though nobody really likes the idea of taxes they were they were more favorable towards taxes because they were favorable towards the roman government and to king herod that was the political group the herodians you know it's interesting that even today when you think about it the people the opposition that comes at jesus is both from religious sects and political circles so much hasn't changed but these two groups are on opposite sides of the tax issue the pharisees are anti-taxes the herodians are pro-taxes but they team up together because you you can see here they're vitriol towards jesus they just want to discredit him align him they want to somehow you know ruin his ministry and so you know when when two people who are enemies have a common enemy you become friends over that and so the herodians and the pharisees teamed up in this endeavor to try to trap jesus in his words and they ask here's the question in verse 17 the question they ask jesus is it lawful to pay taxes to caesar or not okay this is just a yes or no question we want to know yes is it right to pay taxes to caesar or no give us your answer now if jesus gives an endorsement of taxes why then the herodians are going to like him and the pharisees are going to hate him if if he says no i'm opposed to taxes then the pharisees will like him and the herodians will hate him and the followers of jesus because every rabbi had followers so his disciples the people who were following jesus will similarly be divided along party lines so some in the crowd like the idea okay we ought to pay our taxes other people are completely opposed to it and so depending on jesus answer you see they they think to themselves this is that gotcha moment where they think we're asking him a question that is instantly going to alienate his audience and his followers here and under most circumstances this kind of a question would rattle the ordinary person but of course jesus is no ordinary person and he smells the trap he smells the trap and so in verse 18 he asks them why do you testimony you hypocrites the niv says you hypocrites why are you trying to trap me why did he call him hypocrites because you see before they they asked the question back in verse 16 they butter him up with all this false flattery they say teacher we know that you're a true and you teach the way of god and truth and you know you don't care about anyone you don't you don't show favoritism or partiality to anybody you're a really good guy so we have a question for you and he knows all of this is false flattery they don't sincerely believe that he's a good teacher they they have no you know love or loyalty towards him and so the whole thing is a set up and he smells it and jesus then calls them hypocrites you guys are a bunch of hypocrites you're not really interested in my answer to the question you're here with false motives here giving me false flattery why are you trying to trap me and still jesus gives a masterful answer with the wisdom of heaven and so in verse 18 he says to them kuba gooding jr show me the money show me the money show me the tax money and so it says they brought him a denarius now i actually have a denarius here that i got in israel several years ago this is about 2000 years old it's just a silver coin and i know the cameras really probably can't zoom in so i actually blew it up on a slide for you so this is what i'm holding in my hand here now this is actually a denarius uh from 117 a.d this is the picture of the emperor hadrian on this coin so this is a denarius uh many years after jesus but this is typically what a denarius would look like a silver coin about the size of a dime and in jesus day it was probably the uh emperor tiberius but we don't even know for sure because it doesn't tell us and there were a few different coins in circulation during that day but most scholars believe probably tiberius it doesn't really matter whose image it was it was a seizure it was one who was an emperor of rome that's the image on this coin a denarius was worth about a day's wage and and so this is what they bring to jesus he says show me the tax money they bring him a denarius and in verse 20 he asks whose image and inscription is this and they say caesar's and so he says render therefore give to caesar the things that are caesar's and to god the things that are god's this is a brilliant answer since the coin bears the image of caesar then give it to him it's issued by the government so give back to the government what came from the government now the fact of the matter is jesus is saying it's your civic duty to pay taxes i mean you know i know a lot of people object to the idea well what do our taxes go to and some of the things are not you know righteous purposes but in general the bible tells us we we should do our civic duty and pay taxes in romans 13 6-7 it says for because of this you also pay taxes render therefore to all their due taxes to whom taxes are due customs to whom customs fear to whom fear honor to whom honor now i know all of us are opposed to high taxes and that's a relative term well how high is too high but taxes are our civic duty and a small price to pay for enjoying the freedoms of living in the greatest country on earth if for nothing else than for the funding of the military that keeps us safe so you know taxes none of us really likes to pay but it's really a small price when you think about enjoying the freedom of living in our country but this is not a sermon about paying your taxes so you're welcome because the point that jesus is trying to make here is much larger than the subject of paying one's taxes there's a much larger point he's trying to drive home here it's the second part of his statement that i want us to focus on there in verse 21 he says give to caesar what is caesar's but the second part is and give to god the things that are god's now this statement is either often overlooked or often misinterpreted this is how you will often hear it preach i've heard a lot of sermons about this second part basically in conjunction with the first part okay well pay your taxes to the government and then the second part that people say that jesus meant was then give your tithe to the church you know render unto caesar with the seizures then give unto god's what is god's pay your taxes to the government then be sure to give god his part and tithe give a tenth of your income to god now listen that verse that'll certainly preach and i've heard many sermons with that interpretation pay your taxes to government give your tithe to god since he owns everything and don't get me wrong i mean i'm a pastor and i believe in the principle of tithing not as a mandate of the law but as a motivation of the heart but that is not what jesus meant in this passage it's about money but it's not about money if jesus looks at the image on the coin and said give to caesar what is caesar's because the image of caesar was on the coin then the parallel has to match and if the first part means give to caesar the thing that bears the image of caesar then the second part means give to god the thing that bears the image of god and who or what bears the image of god well the bible answers that question in genesis 1 the sixth day of creation i'll put the verse up for you verses 26 and 27 then god said let us make man in our image by the way that's a statement of the trinity right there let us make god in our image this is god speaking let us make man rather uh in our image this is god speaking in the plurality because he's one god singular god but reveals himself as father son and holy spirit so that's the reason for the plural pronouns then god said let us make man in our image according to our likeness verse 27 so god created man in his own image in the image of god he created him male and female he created them mankind was the crowning jewel of god's creation only man was created in the image and likeness of god not the plant kingdom not the animal kingdom not angels only mankind and being created in the image and likeness of god is what separates us and distinguishes us from all the rest of creation consider for a moment the plant kingdom for example when god created vegetation obviously vegetation serves a purpose vegetation is fruitful so that's a purpose for us also vegetation is to convert sunlight energy and carbon dioxide into oxygen through photosynthesis we learn about this in school but listen plants are just living matter without the capacity to think or reason they were not created in the image and likeness of god they serve a purpose but not created in the image and likeness of god when you move up to the animal kingdom the animal kingdom is a step above the plant kingdom because when you get to the animal kingdom when god created in genesis 1 the living beings that swam in the sea and flew in the air and lived on land he created them the bible says as living creatures and the hebrew word is nephesh and the fesh literally means soul he created them with a soul which allows the animal kingdom to think and to feel and to reason it's what distinguishes the animal kingdom from the plant kingdom you know and you can see this visibly and the difference between your dog and your fern you know your dog has the ability to think and reason in the field have emotion your fern doesn't your dog has an intellect your dog can learn things your dog can do tricks your dog your dog can think that's because your dog has a soul your plant does not so your fern just sits there as dumb as the dirt it sits in also your dog has emotion your dog has emotion we had we had a chocolate lab for many years and she died several years ago but every time there was a a thunderstorm or it was july 4th any kind of sounds of fireworks or or thunder she would tremble in the corner i mean she you could see the emotion a fear and dogs obviously when you scold them because they get in trouble they can show that they're ashamed you know and they they kind of cower down and they tuck their tail and they're also full of joy you come home and somebody's glad to see you you know your dog always is and so they're loving on you and and trying to lick you and wagging tails because they can also express emotion because god created the animal kingdom within the fish with a soul your fern doesn't have any emotion your fern is just the sad looking thing it was the day before you could talk to it it doesn't do anything spank it it has no emotion it's a fern but even though animals were created at a higher capacity than plants they were not the crowning jewel of god's creation you were mankind plants have a body not in the sense of flesh like we have but they have physical matter animals have a body and a soul but you have a body soul and spirit and that's how you have been created in the image and likeness of god the word image in the hebrew is salaam and salaam means essential nature what is god's essential nature it is spirit your essential nature is spirit it's not physical because your spirit will outlive your body your essential nature is spiritual your body will one day decay i'd share this epitaph at funerals often this epitaph that was on a tombstone this guy who died his last name was peas like green peas here lies the body of old man peas buried neath the flower in trees peas ain't here just the pod peas shelled out and went to god it's just a shell the real essence of who you are is spirit so salaam we were created in the image salaam essential nature like god's spirit and likeness the image and likeness of god the hebrew word for likeness is demuth demuth means pattern the pattern of god is one singular god revealed in three persons father son and holy spirit you are one individual but you have body soul and spirit you have the same pattern as god and he created you that way different from the animal kingdom different from the plant kingdom genesis 2 7 talks about all of these things and here's the verse and the lord god formed a man of the dust of the ground that's a body he gave the first man adam a body formulating it from the dust of the ground and it is consistent with science the human body is the same 17 chemical elements as dirt basically hydrogen and oxygen and 15 other trace elements your body is the same makeup as dirt and god fashioned for us a body that's the physical the rest of the verse says and he breathes into his nostrils the breath of life when god breathed into mankind he breathed his salem he gave us his spirit now literally in the hebrew as he he breathed the breath of lives it's actually plural hayam hayam lives why again because god is a singular god but we get the fullness of the godhead when he breathed his spirit into us i am you know life is critical it's why by the way when jews celebrate a wedding at the end of the ceremony they break a glass under their heel and they say leheim to life because it is a reminder that god is the author of life he breathes into man the breath of life so god imparts his spirit and man became a living being and that hebrew word is nephesh and there's that word soul again and thus we are created as spiritual beings housed in physical bodies with the capacity to think and reason and to feel and more than that to have fellowship and relationship with our creator again it's what distinguishes us from all the rest of creation to have fellowship and relationship with our creator now frankly friends listen if you want to choose to believe that we just evolved and we just began as primordial ooze in a pond and then we eventually crawled out sprouted legs and grew a tail and went from a monkey with a tail to a man with a cell phone then you can believe that but frankly that's an insult to my intellect that is just a preposterous thing to think that over millions of years we just kind of gradually crawled out of the pond and went from the goo to the zoo to you i mean that just is not a real thing to believe even though it's purported in in classrooms the fact of the matter is that you were created and you were created with the imprint of god you bear his image you were made in his likeness and that is why we are the exceptional part of his creation because only we were designed to have fellowship and relationship with the creator on a level like nothing else of his creation and so when jesus says here in verse 20 whose image and inscription is this on the coin and they say caesar and he says okay fine render therefore give unto caesar what is caesar's and to god the things that are god's in essence what he is saying is the coin bears the image of caesar so give to caesar what belongs to him but you bear the image of god so give to god what belongs to him your life surrender your life to god in other words go ahead pay your taxes but give your life to god because you bear his image now some of you would say okay well pastor g you just made this whole argument that i was created in the image and likeness of god that i belonged to him so if i was created in his image and likeness and if i already belong to him why do i have to give my life to him if i already belong to him because even though mankind was created in the image and likeness of god even though you bear the imprint of your creator by virtue of man's sin we have become estranged from god we have wandered from god we have tried to do life on our own apart from god the idea of god jesus here saying given to god what belongs to god is the idea that you need to be reconciled to him you need to surrender to him and give back to your creator the one whose image you bear your very life he's asking us to return to him to come back to him to give to god what belongs to god you know god when he originally created adam and eve he created this wonderful environment with the purpose of having eternal fellowship and relationship with god but man spoiled that when man sinned and rebelled against god in essence thumbing their nose at god what adam and eve were saying in successive generations because we've inherited the same sin nature as we did from our ancestor adam what in effect we're saying is god i got this i don't need you we've rebelled against him we've left him and so god wants to reconcile us to him we bear his image we're created in his likeness we need to return to our rightful owner and so god reconciled us how through the cross through jesus christ that's why he offers his son as a sacrifice to die for our sins so that we might return to have fellowship and relationship with him christ is the path of reconciliation the bible says it this way in colossians 1 21-22 listen once you were alienated from god and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior but now he has reconciled you by christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight without blemish and free from accusation isn't that wonderful what paul was writing there to the church of colossi is that because of sin we've become estranged and alienated from god we don't have fellowship with him we don't have friendship with him we don't have relationship with him and god knowing this because of our sin we've done it to ourselves god implemented a plan to reconcile man to himself through christ that if we believe in what jesus did by dying on a cross for our sins we don't have to be estranged from god any longer we can return to our rightful owner gift of god what belongs to god give your life to him surrender to him he laid his life down for you to reconcile you to your creator in ephesians 2 13 paul says but now in christ jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of christ a couple of months ago i was at home like most of us you know trying to just be at home these days and i was studying and actually prepping for a teaching and i got a glance out of my peripheral view at the window of like this shaggy reddish golden tail that went by the window and and i just saw it at a glance i'm like what animal was that it's either a dog or a fox because we have fox running around our neighborhood like probably you do and so i run outside it was cold day it was back in december cold day run outside and there's this stray dog out there a golden retriever she's kind of old and it was cold so she's trembling and she comes at my feet she's kind of you know cowers down and and rolls in her back and you know wants me to like rub her belly and so i'm rubbing her belly and you know i can tell she's lost and she's either cold or afraid or both but fortunately on her on her dog collar she had a name and a phone number and so i called it and it turns out it was my neighbor about five six houses down the street and so i took her inside real quick got her warm for a little bit and got a rope to use as a as a leash and then walked her back up to my neighbor's house and they were just so overjoyed to see her and so was she the dog just to finally be reunited with her family and there you know they're just very thankful and glad to see her and the reason why she was so glad to see them is because she had been returned to her rightful owner listen it's a picture of us you know we stray from god and we think that we can do things better without him but the fact of the matter is he's our rightful owner and only until we return to him only then will we find real fulfillment and purpose in life because we have been reunited with our rightful owner god created us in his image and in his likeness when we think to ourselves that we can do life better without him we will only in the end be more miserable without him but when we who bear his image return to our creator to have relationship with him then when we give to god what belongs to god we will find real fulfillment and purpose in life simply put since we have since we bear the image of god we will only find our fulfillment and purpose in god through our relationship with god because why he created us he loves us and he redeemed us through christ's sacrifice on the cross but you have to choose to give to god what belongs to god your life you have to choose to return to your rightful owner you have to make a decision to accept jesus now in order to enjoy eternity later because the decision you make today will determine where you spend eternity paul would write in first corinthians 2 9 he said no eye has seen no ear has heard neither has it entered into the heart of man what god has prepared for them that love him in other words he says you can't even imagine we can't even fathom what god has in store for us what god has prepared for us who love him but you need to return to the one whose image you bear given to caesar what belongs to caesar okay do your civic duty and pay your taxes but the more important issue is give to god what belongs to god you belong to god you bear his image his imprint is on your life so give to god what belongs to god amen let's pray together father we thank you that you love us so much you created us in your image and in your likeness but we have strayed from you we have wandered off and we need to return to our rightful owner so we thank you for this passage lord more than just about paying taxes it's about to whom do we belong we bear your image you have placed your imprint on our lives and i know lord that there are some who have heard this bible study today and they would agree that they've wandered from you they are estranged from you they're not in a right relationship with you and so therefore they can't really enjoy the fulfillment and purpose of life because they have wandered from their creator they don't have a savior that they call as lord and so lord i pray that right now those who feel that way would make a decision to return to you to give to god what belongs to god that since we bear your image that we would return to you that we would seek you that we would surrender to you i pray for as many right now who feel estranged and distant that they would make a decision today right here right now to give to you their very lives to surrender to your lordship and so i'm going to pause in my prayer right now with your head still bowed eyes closed and i just want to invite you who were here and those of you watching online to make a decision to surrender to god to give to god what belongs to god your very life belongs to god you're created in his image and in his likeness he loves you he sent his son to die for you and he wants fellowship and relationship with you but you have to make that decision that you're going to give to god what belongs to god so right now i'm going to invite you to pray a prayer with me if that's if that's your heart you want to you want to have that relationship with the lord then pray a prayer with me i'm going to lead you in this prayer and you can pray it with me i'll go slowly enough you can just pray it along with me and just surrender to him just give to god what belongs to god just pray this just say lord jesus i surrender to you today i thank you that i was created in your image and in your likeness i thank you that you love me that you would send your son jesus to die for me so i confess that i'm a sinner like everyone else and i'm tired of being estranged from you i want to give to you what belongs to you my life i yield my life to you today lord i return to my creator that i might have fellowship and relationship with you through faith in jesus christ i accept you jesus as my lord and savior i pray that you would come into my heart and change my life right now by faith i receive you i accept you i love you i surrender to you in jesus name and all god's people said amen and amen listen if you prayed that prayer with me right now or you listen to this podcast later today if you're here in the sanctuary if you prayed that prayer i want to invite you to just come up after the service get a bible from one of our pastors to remember today's decision if you're watching online you can email or call the church we'll send you a bible just to remember your decision hey listen we're created in the image and likeness of god amen we belong to him so surrender to him give your life to him and live for him god bless you have a great day

Channel: Cornerstone Chapel - Leesburg, VA

Views: 20,764

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Keywords: Cornerstone Chapel, Calvary Chapel, Gary Hamrick, Biblical sermons, leesburg va, cornerstone chapel leesburg virginia, great sermons by great preachers, Matthew 22, The other side of the coin, what does a denarius look like, Who bears the image of God, What bears the image of God, Do you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, Whose image do i bear

Id: VSe2cdV3sdY

Length: 37min 17sec (2237 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 16 2021